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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29252514">forever valentine</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/bellestar/pseuds/bellestar'>bellestar</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Childhood Sweethearts, Devoted Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Mush, One Shot, Prompt Fill, Rey &amp; Ben Solo are Childhood Friends, Reylo - Freeform, Short &amp; Sweet, Wedding Fluff, Young Ben Solo, Young Rey (Star Wars)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 11:49:04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,195</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29252514</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/bellestar/pseuds/bellestar</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>From Reylo Prompts: Ben makes a confession in his wedding speech. He knew he was going to marry Rey when he and Rey were 4 years old and she gave him a Valentine she made and colored herself. And 21 years later, he still has that Valentine.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>173</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Ijustfellintothissendhelp, Reylo Prompt Fills (@reylo_prompts)</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>forever valentine</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I know it's been many, many months since I've written anything for Reylo, but when I read this prompt... well,  I just had to write this.</p><p>I've commissioned three wonderful moodboards from <a href="https://twitter.com/spacewafflehou1">Waffles</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/yesdnilindsey">Lindsay</a>, and <a href="https://twitter.com/salbeilavender">starcrossedreylo</a> for this story! Aren't they beautiful? We have such amazing talent here in our Reylo community and I am so appreciative of their work for this!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  
</p><p>
  <a href="https://twitter.com/spacewafflehou1">Moodboard by: Waffles</a>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <a href="https://twitter.com/yesdnilindsey">Moodboard by: Lindsay</a>
</p><p> </p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <a href="https://twitter.com/salbeilavender">Moodboard by: starcrossedreylo</a>
</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p>His feet pad gently across the hardwood floor, his hands balled into tiny fists as he’s rubbing away last night’s slumber from his eyes. His mom stands over the stove and hums a tune that he has heard many times before.  The melody mixes in with the sound of sizzling bacon that will soon join the stacks of pancakes that wait on the counter.</p><p>His gaze falls to the table where bright red long stem roses stand in a manicured arrangement in a crystal vase. They weren’t there when he left his unfinished puzzle last night.</p><p>“Mom? What are those for?”</p><p>She turns around and smiles the moment she lays eyes on her four-year-old boy whose moppy curls are a mess from a good night’s rest. </p><p>“Your father gave those to me this morning for Valentine’s Day before he had to leave for work,” she says as she wipes her hands on her apron and kneels down to the boy’s level. Her son chews on his bottom lip as he often does when he’s thinking.</p><p>“What’s Valentine’s Day?”</p><p>She smiles warmly. “It’s a day when you show the people you love just how much you care.  Your father thought roses were a great way to show that. To remind me that I’m his Valentine.”</p><p>“Oh. But I thought you were supposed to show people you love them every day,” the boy answers, his brows knitted in confusion.</p><p>“That’s true, honey, you should show people how much you love them every day. Valentine’s Day is just a day where maybe you show some extra care or even tell someone how you feel about them for the first time.”</p><p>He knows what loves feels like in the way that his parents hug and kiss him every night before bed.  Love is when his dad picks him up in the backyard and holds his body above his head to make him feel like he is soaring in the clouds.  It’s when his mom reads to him in the afternoon with the sun beaming down on them through the stain glassed windows in their living room. It’s when he is scared of the monsters that sometimes visit him at night and they never hesitate to rush in and cradle him in their arms until he falls asleep again.</p><p>This little boy knows all about love.</p><p>“I love you and Dad. Does that mean you’re my Valentines?”</p><p>His mom chuckles as she runs a hand through his hair.</p><p>“Sure, honey, we can be if you want. You will always be our Valentine, too. One day, you’ll have your own special Valentine other than your dad and me. Someone who maybe you’ll want to surprise one day with flowers just like this?”</p><p>She rises to her full height and reaches over to pluck one of the roses from the vase.  When she hands it to him, the sweet aroma from the bloom tickles his nose and causes him to make a face.</p><p>“And they don’t have to be roses, Ben, they can be whatever flowers you want to give them when the time is right,” she adds with a laugh.</p><p>Leia turns her attention back to the breakfast that threatens to burn on the stove as Ben continues to hold the single red rose with a ginger touch. He thinks he definitely wouldn’t give a Valentine roses unless that’s what they liked, but at four years old, he can’t imagine when there will be a time that he has to care about what kind of flower to give someone.</p><p>When they sit at the table later with the vase pushed over to the side to make room for their plates and to not disturb his unfinished puzzle, Ben hears a familiar voice call out for him outside. He nearly forgets the pancakes and bacon on his plate when he sees his friend from next door waving to him.</p><p>“Mom, can I go outside and play with Rey?”  His tone is full of excitement as his mother peers out the window to see a small brunette little girl dressed in a bright yellow snowsuit in the yard next door. She stands out like a true ray of sunshine beaming against the crystal white snow.</p><p>“Finish your breakfast and then you can play.”</p><p>Ben has never finished his breakfast quite as fast before. Leia smiles to herself when he excuses himself from the table and darts toward the closet where she keeps his winter boots and coat. He’ll soon be asking her to help him tie the laces so he doesn’t lose them while he’s running in the snow. Later, she’ll make warm tomato soup for the pair of friends who have known each other since birth. Fate has determined that they are more than just neighbors.</p><p>She thinks about suggesting to him to give the little girl the rose she pulled from the arrangement earlier but decides better of it. A friendship like theirs doesn’t need flowers, just like how Han doesn’t have to go to the trouble of making sure he always gets her something to remind her of how much he cares on this day in February.</p><p>But the reminders are ever so sweet, and she hopes that one day Ben will have his own way of showing how much he cares, too, as he calls out Rey’s name when he flings the backdoor open.</p><p>---</p><p>“Ben! I made you something!”</p><p>They’ve been playing in the snow for hours. They’ve taken turns building the biggest snowman they can possibly make together.  Snowballs have been thrown at the fence for target practice before turning on each other.  The pair lay in the snow side by side after working on their snow angels.</p><p>“You made me something?” he asks as his head turns to the girl whose freckles are impossible to miss, even with her rosy colored cheeks. Rey sits up, careful not to disturb her perfect angel impression and unzips her coat.</p><p>“Uh huh! Mom told me today is a special day, and I wanted to give you something.”</p><p>Ben sits up and watches as she pulls out a pink piece of construction paper. Specks of glitter fall and mix with the glistening snow beneath them. A crooked shaped heart is drawn with a white crayon with gold, silver and pink glitter filling the shape. There is a faint impression of her fingers in the glitter where she’s strewn and placed it across the sheet.</p><p>The words “Love, Rey” are messily written under this crooked but well-meaning heart.  His name highlighted in glitter is scrawled across the top of the page.</p><p>“Happy Valentine’s Day!” Rey giggles as she proudly gives him the gift. “Mom says that you should give people you like a card on Valentine’s Day to ask if they will be your Valentine.”  Her hazel eyes shine brightly as she looks to Ben with an expression of adoration.</p><p>“Will you be my Valentine?”</p><p>The boy looks up at the girl, a little unsure what to say. Didn’t his mom just tell him that he should be the one giving gifts on an occasion like this?</p><p>He can’t deny how getting this card from Rey makes him feel; he could give her a thousand hugs and it still wouldn’t be enough to show how much he likes it. Or how much he likes her. His heart beats quicker in his chest as he looks down again at the heart drawn for him.</p><p>“Of course I’ll be your Valentine,” he says softly. Before Ben can safely tuck the card into his own coat, he is back on the snow-covered ground and Rey’s arms are wrapped around him as best as their coats will allow.  He feels a wet, warm press of her lips against his cheek.</p><p>“I’m so glad!” Rey exclaims with another giggle that is layered with relief. The snow angels they’ve made are completely disturbed now as the two get up to brush away the snow and fallen glitter. The card and the kiss on the cheek are never mentioned again as Ben places the card into his coat and they resume their snow day play.</p><p>Ben still holds onto the Valentine’s card long after they’ve both have finished his mom’s homemade tomato soup and his dad has come home from work.  Rey’s card is the topic of dinner conversation that night with Han teasing Ben that he’ll have to figure out what Rey’s favorite flowers are.</p><p>That night, Ben decides he’ll do more than just learn what Rey’s favorite flower is. He wants to know everything there is to know about the little girl who has given him his first Valentine. As his eyes close, Ben thinks there can be no other Valentine in the world for him other than Rey.</p><p>Now he understands why his dad left the roses on the table this morning. Ben decides that he’ll give Rey a garden for Valentine’s Day each year if that’s what she wants.</p><p>The card is taped to the wall beside his bed, where it remains before being placed in a book that is soon filled with other reminders of love that are created throughout their many years of friendship.</p><p>---</p><p>It’s many years later, and their friendship is about to become bound in matrimony.   A small gathering of family and friends have joined them on this summer day in the very backyard where Ben and Rey spent so much time together growing up. </p><p>She’s walked down the aisle in a beautiful gown, but it doesn’t outshine the smile that is on her face.  They’re surrounded by daisies, which he learned at age 5 are her favorite flowers.</p><p>The minister prompts them to begin their vows, but Ben has been so lost in looking at Rey that he has to be gently nudged.  The crowd chuckles as Ben nervously apologies for missing his cue, and Rey can’t help but just laugh in return.</p><p>Looking out to the crowd, he sees his mom and dad in the front row with smiles on their faces. Han’s holding Leia’s hand in his lap as she is wiping away tears. There is a subtle nod from his mother when their eyes meet, and Ben clears his throat to say the most important words he’ll ever say.</p><p>“Rey, there is no one in this world that I would rather be standing with other than you. I know that we like joke around that I didn’t fall in love with you until middle school when you punched out Poe Dameron because he was taking your lunch box away—” more laughs from the crowd fill the air. Rey shakes her head at the memory but keeps her hold on Ben’s hands.</p><p>“But that’s not the moment when I fell in love with you. I actually fell in love with on Valentine’s Day when we were four years old and all we could care about is making snow angels and going in to warm up with some of my mom’s soup.”</p><p>Ben lets go of her hands just long enough to reach into his suit jacket to pull out the pink piece of construction paper. A few specks of glitter fall to the grassy earth below them. A crooked shaped heart is drawn with a white crayon with gold, silver and pink glitter clinging faithfully to the page.</p><p>Rey’s eyes widen as a gasp falls from parted lips.  There are murmured whispers from the crowd as he shows Rey the Valentine’s Day card.</p><p>“That morning, Mom told me that someday that I may have someone that I will want to have as my Valentine for always. I didn’t know what she meant until you gave this to me and later kissed my face right here in this very spot in the backyard. You asked me to be your Valentine that day, and I knew that night that there could be no other Valentine for me. There could be no one else in my life but you. And today, I am so glad that I get to say that I am forever yours, forever your Valentine, for all the rest of our days together.”</p><p>He isn’t sure who breaks down in tears first – her or him. The ceremony is briefly interrupted when she hugs him before she’s given her vows because she’s too busy whispering in his ear how she can’t believe he kept the card all this time.</p><p>They manage to finish their vows to one another. There’s a couple more jokes and more tears of happiness.</p><p>The minister pronounces them husband and wife a short time later, and Ben makes sure that his forever Valentine gets a kiss that is more than the peck she gave him on the cheek more than 21 years earlier.</p><p>---</p><p>Every Valentine’s Day, Rey wakes up to a fresh vase of daises on the kitchen counter and a hand-drawn card. It doesn’t have the glitter and his heart drawing skills are worse than hers, but Ben makes sure she always knows, especially on this day, how much he loves and cares for her.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Happy Valentine's Day, everyone.</p><p>--</p><p>Special love and thank you to <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sophia_Ravencrest/pseuds/Sophia_Ravencrest">Sophia_Ravencrest</a>, who is not only a wonderful beta but an amazing friend.</p><p>I'm also over at <a href="https://twitter.com/bellestarreylo">twitter</a>.  Come say hi to me</p></blockquote></div></div>
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